Character Overview:
Green Oak is the grandson of Prof. Sammuel Oak, and plays the role of Red's main rival in the Pokemon Special manga, always slightly ahead and better than him. Due to his family heritage, he started out as a cocky trainer, and mechanically trained his Pokemon to become powerhouses within short periods of time. It is only after his many interactions with Red that he finally learnt the importance of companionship shared between trainers and Pokemon, and this further perfected his ability in raising Pokemon, earning him the title the Raiser.
Among the Kanto Pokedex Holders, Green is always the calm and poised one, who knows his limits and sets his priorities straight. Despite their initial marked difference in personality and attitude towards Pokemon and battling, he and Red have become best companions while remaining good rivals to each other over the years. As shown in their final match at the Pokemon League Tournament, Red learnt to recognize his boundaries from Green, and Green learnt how to empathize with his Pokemon and stop treating them like machines.
Green constantly shows disdain towards Blue's mischief, often calling her the pesky girl, but actually shares a close bond with her. During the Kanto Elite 4 incident, Green personally trained Yellow to equip herself with better battling skills for assisting her journey in search of Red. Afterwards, Green took up the position of the Viridian Gymleader, and learnt a lot from a book left behind by the former gymleader, Giovanni, named 'The Mysteries Of The Earth', which assisted him in training up his Rhydon, and also hinted that it is still capable of further evolution. Green has therefore a strong respect for the man despite his evil doings. When Green is away from the gym, he uses a virtual image of himself to control a team left behind to accept challenges, in order to continue fulfilling his duties as a Gymleader while giving himself the opportunity to explore the world.
Another Dex Holder which Green shares a complicated relationship with is Silver. Their first encounter unfortunately took place with a mutual misunderstanding, leading to an instant fight. When Green later learnt of the fact that Silver stole Totodile from Prof. Elm, it further worsened his impression of the red-haired boy and even made him decide to arrest him, which was tactfully thwarted by another of Gold's mischief. However, in the FRLG series, when Silver had trouble accepting Giovanni as his father, it was Green who talked senses into him and made him open up to the man. This was probably due to the empathy he felt for the boy after nearly losing his grandfather to Team Rocket once again. Afterwards, Green recognized Silver's qualities as a Dex Holder and accepted him as one of them.
Green has strong connections with many key figures in the Pokemon world. Apart from having a renowned professor as his grandfather, Green's elder sister, Daisy, is Prof. Oak's personal assistant and also a famous Pokemon Contest coordinator. During his childhood, he was raised and trained in Johto under the Cianwood Gymleader, Chuck, which allowed his Scyther to learn many attacks not known to the Kanto region at that time. On many occasions, Green was shown to care deeply for his family and friends despite his usually cold exterior.
Green's design was based off the rival in the original Gameboy series, Pokemon Red and Green, with spiky brown hair, a long-sleeved purple sweater and a low hanging pendant. In the Viz and Chuang Yi translations, her name was swapped with Green, due to the fact that in most English-speaking countries, Pokemon Blue was released as a counterpart instead of Pokemon Green, and the translators feel that Blue suits the name of the rival more.
In the Yellow series, Green added a blue cape to his attire, adding mystery to his presence. In the GSC series, his clothing was completely redesigned, with white-collared green jacket over a black T-shirt, and sand brown pants with brown boots. His attire was revamped again in the FRLG series to match the new design of the rival in the GBA remakes, Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. However, his hair remained the original shade of brown instead of the orange colour given to the rival's new look. This new attire carried on into the Emerald series. Green's eyes were of varying shades of Green over the years.
Green set out on his journey after returning from the faraway land of Johto, and battled the mirage Pokemon, Mew, in the western woods of Pallet on his first evening. Knowing his own limits, he withdrew from the fight, but a reckless Red soon barged in and ended up embarrassing himself. Later, Red showed up to mess up Green's capturing of a wild Kangaskhan again, but this incident allowed Green to heed the emotions of a Pokemon. The two boys became official rivals since then, and Green, with his heightened raising ability, was often a step ahead of Red.
At Lavender Town's Pokemon Tower, Green became possessed by the wild Gastlys, and after being rescued by Red, the two collaborated in defeating Koga of Team Rocket. Following an accidental mix-up of their Pokemon, Green and Red did not encounter each other again until Prof. Oak was kidnapped by Team Rocket, and they had to crack the barriers surrounding Saffron City in order to gain entry. At the Silph Co. building, Green faced off Koga, and narrowly beat the man. He then worked together with Red and Blue in battling the merged legendary bird, Zapmolcuno.
Later, at the Indigo Plateau Pokemon League Tournament, Red and Green had their fateful battle in the final match, where both boys demonstrated their growth and everything they have learnt from each other. Despite being defeated at the end, Green recognized Red as an important companion and continued their friendly rivalry.
After the Kanto Pokemon League Tournament, the three Pallet trainers went separate ways to further their training, and Green was on a personal journey to better himself when he learnt of Red's disappearance 2 years later. Using Pidgeot as a means of communication with Prof. Oak, Green gathered information as he searched across the land. With his experience of battling the Kanto Elite 4's Agatha back when he was training for the League Tournament, Green solved a crisis caused by Agatha's Gastly at Celadon.
As requested by Yellow, Green personally trained the young girl to become stronger, while being constantly astonished and mortified at her obviously sub-par skills and knowledge. Afterwards, on Cerise Island, Green partnered up with his former foe, Koga, and had a bitter battle with Agatha once again, finally claiming victory with the help of Koga's Arbok. Green then reunited with Red and Blue to provide support to Yellow in facing off Lance.
1 year after the Kanto Elite 4 incident, when Red gave up his chance to become the new Viridian Gymleader due to his injuries from Lorelei's ice handcuffs, Green offered to take up the position for him. Green learnt of the therapeutic effects of the Mt. Silver hotsprings, and lent Charizard to Red to handle the tough flying required at the perilous mountains.
Later, the Pokemon Association held a Gymleaders' Exhibition Match between the Kanto and Johto gymleaders at the new round of Pokemon League Tournament, and Green was fatefully set to battle his teacher and master during his childhood times, the Cianwood Gymleader Chuck. Using the battle techniques he learnt from a book left behind by Giovanni at the Viridian Gym, 'The Mysteries Of The Earth', he emerged victorious with his newly captured Rhydon.
When Neo Team Rocket raided the Indigo Plateau, Green along with the other gymleaders were tricked and sent away on the Magnet Train while battling the grunts. After Red narrowly saved the train from crashing, Green and Red set off for the final battleground at the Ilex Forest where they fought Lugia and Ho-oh, and finally the Mask Of Ice himself.
2 years have passed since the Mask Of Ice incident. When Red and Green returned to Pallet Town upon Prof. Oak's request, they were surprised to find the professor missing despite the message he left behind to confiscate their Pokedexes. As they followed clues to solve the mystery, they found soon themselves on the Sevii Islands where they learnt of Team Rocket's resurrection and their kidnapping of Oak, as well as the organization's schemes pertaining to Deoxys.
After learning the ultimate fire attack, Blast Burn, from the old lady Brinca, Green had his showdown with Oca of the TR Beast Trio on Six Island. Together with Red, Blue and the psychic mutant Mewtwo, they eventually ended up at Seven Island's Trainer Tower, where they successfully rescued Prof. Oak and Blue's parents. Green knew that their fate hung on Red's inevitable clash with Giovanni, and thus left behind to deal with the swarm of Deoxys-Divides, while giving Charizard to Red to assist his pursuit of Team Rocket's Battle Airship. He later used Rhydon to rescue Silver and Giovanni, and also helped Red steady the failing TR Battle Airship. However, just when the crisis seemed to be over, a mysterious attack sent out by Storc turned Green into stone along with the other four Pokedex Holders.
2 months later, Mr. Briney shipped the five petrified Dex Holders, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Silver, via the S.S. Tidal to the Battle Frontier. The five were placed on the top floor of the Battle Tower at the Pokedex Holders' corner in the disguise of actual statues. From a report Brinca snatched from Team Rocket at the Trainer Tower, Prof. Oak learnt of the wishing powers of the mirage Pokemon Jirachi, which appeared to be the only way to revive the Dex Holders. Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Gold and Crys were dispatched to the Battle Frontier in stages to capture Jirachi and safeguard it from the evil Guile Hideout, who was also after the wishing Pokemon. Emerald eventually managed to come to terms with his own feelings with Pokemon, and channelled his wish to Jirachi, reversing the petrifaction of the five seniors.
Green promptly recovered after the petrifaction reversal and got himself into condition for the battle. He teamed up with the other 9 Dex Holders to defeat Guile Hideout's giant sea monster by a combined ultimate attack. His Charizard unleashed the Triple Blast Burn along with Gold's Explotaro and Sapphire's Chaka.
Pokémon on his Active Team
Pokémon he has at Viridian Gym
Pokémon he has had or been partnered with
